VERGENNES — In their first case of 2015, Vergennes police issued a city resident five tickets, including one for refusing to take an evidentiary test for driving under the influence of alcohol, after stopping his vehicle 28 seconds after midnight on Jan. 1.
Vergennes police said they pulled over a vehicle driven by Thomas Hunt, 31, after it failed to stop at the intersection of School and South Maple streets. Police alleged that Hunt performed poorly in roadside sobriety tests before refusing further testing.
Among Hunt’s three passengers was a 7-year-old child who was not properly restrained, and Hunt was also cited for failure to properly restrain a child in his vehicle. Police said further charges of reckless endangerment are possible in the case.
Hunt was also cited for driving with a civilly suspended license, possession of four grams of marijuana, and failing to stop at a stop sign.
Two days later on Jan. 3, Vergennes police cited a Cornwall resident for DUI, third offense, a felony charge. Police said they pulled over a vehicle driven by Jeremy Markwell, 30, for running the same stop sign, and that Markwell drove south into Waltham for a mile with police behind him before pulling over.
Police alleged Markwell did not perform well during roadside testing, after which they alleged his blood-alcohol content was 0.14 in evidentiary testing; the legal limit for driving is 0.08. Police lodged Markwell at the Chittenden County Correctional Center.
In other action between Dec. 29 and Jan. 4, Vergennes police:
•  On Dec. 29 ticketed two vehicles left overnight on city streets in violation of the city’s wintertime parking ban.
•  On Dec. 29 checked a report that a child in the Vergennes Union Elementary School parking lot had a handgun in a lunchbox, but learned that it was a toy air gun.
•  On Dec. 29 determined that a woman at a Second Street home who had threatened to harm herself was OK.
•  On Dec. 29 looked for a suspicious man reported to be in the School Street area, but found no one.
•  On Dec. 29 tried on behalf of South Burlington police but failed to find a man on Union Street and issue him a citation for retail theft.
•  On Dec. 30 and 31 checked reports of suspicious cars at the Hillside Acres complex and learned that one belonged to a repo man and the other to residents.
•  On Dec. 31 hosted a DUI checkpoint on Route 7 near the Ferrisburgh Fire Department. City police along with Vermont State and Bristol police and members of the Addison County Sheriff’s Department screened four motorists for DUI, issued a ticket for marijuana possession, and ticketed a driver for having an open container of an alcoholic beverage.
•  On Jan. 2 spoke to occupants of a Main Street residence after hearing a child saying that something hurt and determined all was OK.
•  On Jan. 2 ticketed two vehicles left overnight on city streets in violation of the city’s wintertime parking ban.
•  On Jan. 2 helped a motorist get into a locked car on South Water Street.
•  On Jan. 2 ticketed a minor for possession of malt beverages and a Champlain Farms clerk for selling it after spotting the minor leaving the store with beer.